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Dawn of War II/Force Commander/Strategy
This is written for patch 2.6.0 balance. Overview The Force Commamder is the most straightforward Space Marine hero to play. He has good damage and durability, anti-vehicle wargear, knockback immunity options, a teleport option, disruption, you name it. He has some support (buff) capacity, which is passive by nature, requiring no extra micro to use and not keeping him away from the fight. The FC is dangerous by himself and can synergies with pretty much any sort of army; for T1, builds based on either an Assault Squad, Devastators, or double Tacticals are all viable. Battle Cry The starting ability of the FC, Battle Cry has three effects. First, he will do a special attack on every strike for 15 seconds. This is useful to disrupt blobs of enemies, although the specials won't "follow" moving enemies so it actually makes his strikes possible to dodge. The specials are especially good with the Thunder Hammer, which has a 360 degree special attack. Even with the starting weapon, they can wreck a T1 melee squad or just chain knockback a hero to win a duel. Second, the FC will be immune to all knockback. This can be useful when closing in (no Explosive Shot, Kinetic Pulse or Full Auto to hold you back) and of course while fighting, especially vs. other heroes, Banshees and such. It will also protect from plasma cannon and nuke knockback. Third, it will boost damage of nearby allies by 10% (15% with the Power Sword) and each melee strike activates the bonus again. This is significant, especially early on when your opponent has pretty much the same units - yours will be better for 15 seconds, giving an edge. Wargear Power Sword An underused weapon (because of the Power Fist), the Power Sword is an excellent T1 weapon that makes the FC kill expensive heavy infantry models and passively boost allied damage by 15% instead of 10% when using Battle Cry. This can mean an edge in T1 especially in mirrors. The only drawback is that you may want the Fist come T2. Chainsword and Storm Shield A defensive weapon that leaves the melee weapon as is, but boosts health by 200 and ranged damage resistance by 20% passively. Activating the ability raises the ranged damage resistance to 70% and grants suppression immunity in a radius around the FC in exchange for speed. This is mainly a ranged blob/suppression counter, allowing the FC to spearhead your Tacticals and tank most of the damage. Should work best with double Tactical builds. Power Fist The most popular FC weapon, the Fist has a high power cost of but allows the FC to damage and stun vehicles. And it also has the highest damage vs. any target (it does more than the Hammer even against heavy infantry). Usually the safest bet since it is anti-everything. Thunder Hammer A blob disruption weapon, it does less damage than the Fist but has a 360 degree special attack. Hence the Hammer is only truly good with Battle Cry activated, since it causes massive disruption. Only with the cost against serious melee spam, really. Armor of Alacrity Grants a sprint ability (short speed boost) which is good for closing in and chasing quick units. A pretty popular choice. Uses energy, so doesn't synergise that well with Iron Halo. Artificer Armor A safe armor choice with passive bonuses, increases health and regeneration. Good for increased tackiness with Storm Shield or Iron Halo. Terminator Armor See Force Commander Terminator/Strategy for analysis on this wargear. Iron Halo A popular accessory to get in T1, the Iron Halo or "bubble" absorbs 5 damage for 1 energy and grants knockback immunity. Makes the Force Commander very tanky and synergizes well with Artificer Armor. Teleporter Pack A popular T2 accessory to go with either Power Fist or Thunder Hammer. Allows the Force Commander to appear in a ranged blob for some disruption or behind a tank for some rear armor punches. Can be used to counter setup weapon teams. A good ability, but the teleportation drains significant energy and has a long cooldown. Sacred Standard A popular T3 choice in case the FC didn't get Iron Halo or Teleporter earlier. This accessory grants a large passive damage boost to allied units. The effect is further improved if the FC gets incapacitated, so in team games some players actually suicide their hero for the massive +40% buff to get revived after the battle is won. Category:Dawn of War II multiplayer unit subpages